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November 6, 2009

Halo Reach, is that you?

Some images leaded online yesterday from a man who calls himself ToM MoReLLo that are apparently from Halo Reach. These pictures were posted on the MLG forums and have since been removed, but what they show is clearly Halo looking. Microsoft's official word is that they "don't comment on rumors and speculation" which is no surprise. Although I'm not sure that makes sense in this context. There's nothing being rumored or speculated about. These are actual pictures of... something. In his own word's MoReLLo (by the way, not the actualTom Morello) claims, "these pics are VERY recent. As in taken this week recent. and no bungie employees have it at home as I heard someone post if anyone wanted to play you have to play here. I played on November 1st..." What's that? You'd actually like to see the images? Oh, well then check after the break... if you dare!

And just to prove he isn't lying:

It actually looks pretty legit to me. If I didn't know any better, I'd say it was fake based on the weaponry. However, being a major human colony world with a large military presence, Reach probably housed a lot of prototype weaponry used in future games (as seen here with the Battle Rifle and the Laser). The Needler Carbine... well... As much as I love needles, I think the Covenant need a few new ammo types. The images have also garnered a lot of negativity because the graphics apparently "suck." Not sure what pictures they're looking at, but the ones I'm seeing were taken with a cellphone camera off of a TV screen.

ToM was nice enough to recap his alleged experience:

This first mission was just like Halo 1's 2nd mission where you had to find the marines that crash landed throughout the map, but in halo reach you are finding spartans. It's a pretty big map, and the worthog was very useful for getting places. The worthog can carry as many as 5 people (the driver, the front passenger, the gunner, and two seats below the gunner that face left and right, not forward)

The second mission was pretty action packed. You start out getting dropped off, and the action immediately begins. You are with squadmates. Throughout this mission you have to cover your spartan friend (whos a girl) and give her coverage so that she can hack into the computer. There are 3 big guns on the map that she has to hack into. Hacking into them gains control of the gun, and I guess it gives them control of the air (you see banshees and hornets flying throughout the entire level)

The third stage is very similar to Truth and Reconciliation (the 3rd stage on Halo 1). You and another spartan have snipers. You have to get into the enemy base from the cliffs (you start out on the cliffs). While you go in the base, your spartan friend covers you from the cliffs above. At the end of this level, you save a bunch of scientists or marines (not really sure who they are actually). They are humans who refused to leave their site even though they ordered everyone to get out. At the end of the level you save them and get picked up by a pelican.

Those were the first 3 stages. As for gameplay, everyone on those forums are talking about the perks. I guess I kinda used the wrong word. It's not really a perk, but rather a device that you can pick up. You can only carry one at a time. I found 3 different devices in the first 3 missions-Halogram, cloak, and sprint. So it's not really a perk, like you would think from call of duty. They are just devices you pick up and that have cooldowns.

The new BR is the 12 round, 1 shot with the scope. I think it's more powerfull than the burst fire BR from halo 3.

The sniper rifle has a longer delay between shots (I was upset with this).

The gameplay seem VERY similar to the other halos. It still has that "slow" feeling. The enemies also fight the exact same way, even the hunters.

The new needler carbine gun is cool. It takes three shots to make the needles explode on someone. However, if that person has a shield, you have to take out the shield before the needles can stick. So this gun can be effective if you shoot grunts and jackals, that way they explode and do more damage. You can't just shoot an elite three times, you have to bring his shield down first, then when you shoot him 3 times when he doesnt have a shield, the needles explode.

When you cloak, your radar is jammed, so you see red dots everywhere. Also, you can't hear anything going on. It's like trying to hear someone say something when you are underwater.

There is a new worthog that shoots volley missles. It seemed very overpowered, but fun. It would shoot about 4-6 shots and they explode upon contact. Then there is about a 5 second wait. Then you can shoot again (basically a 5 second cooldown for every time you can fire).

I found something really extraordinary. In the middle of mission 3, you encounter a bunch of covenant fighting this big ass monster (it had tusks, it seemed like some sort of prehistoric animal)

When you see the covenant fighting the monster, you are told not to engage combat, but to just go by unnoticed. You stand and watch the covenant fighting the monster, only to see the covenant get owned.

You must understand that this game is still LOOONG from being done. People on the forums are making too early judgments, like saying the graphics were horrible. Well I played the game and the graphics were pretty bad. That's because they havn't finished it yet... In fact, they didn't even have human voice overs when someone would talk in the game.

Overall gameplay was about the same as the other Halos.
Enemies battles are similar too.
I don't know if you can dual wield.
They made me play through the first 3 missions.
The first mission was on a pretty big map, and I had to find other spartans on the map (similar to Halo 1's second stage where you have to find the crash landed marines).
Second stage was pretty action packed, main goal was to take control of several huge missile guns throughout the map, and provide coverage to a spartan that would hack into the guns and control them.
Third stage was very similar to Halo 1's 3rd stage, Truth and Reconciliation. You start with a sniper and cloaking perk, you sneak into an enemy base at night, and you shoot from cliffs.

So, could it be true? It may be. It's always a good sign when the company that develops the game bans members from the forums for the mere mention of this "rumor." I'll keep you updated if anything more develops.